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August 1, 2004 -- SEATTLE, Wash., (USA) -- Jobwerx News -- INSIGHT - Coors Brewery, the US third-largest suds maker, will merge equally with Canada's leading brewer the Molson group. The $5.9 billion merger of Molson and Coors is a deal designed to prop up flagging beer brands by creating the world's fifth-largest brewer.

The new Molson Coors Brewing Company combined portfolio will include Coors Light, (the seventh biggest beer brand worldwide, according to the company), Molson Canadian (the leading brand in Canada) and Carling (the top standard lager brand in the UK). It will also have a number of import bands: Coors Original, Keystone, Aspen Edge, Zima XXX, Worthington's, Molson Ultra, Export, Molson Dry, Rickard's and Kaiser.

Coors Brewing highlighted the low-carb craze beer Aspen Edge and the upmarket Zima XXX brand as the main drivers of sales and profit growth in the US, while the top standard lager brand in the UK, Carling, continued to improve despite deep discounting by retailers. The new Molson Coors Brewing Company is expected to generate around $175 million in annual synergies by 2007.

Both family-owned brewers have been keen to avoid takeover by a domestic or foreign rival, and a merger is the obvious way for both families to retain some level of control and influence while strengthening the companies' prospects. But whether the combination of two mid-sized, underperforming companies will in fact lead to any noticeable improvement in their long-term prospects remains to be seen.

Coors stock surged to $80.11, a 52-week high, on July 20, but has since dropped since the deal was disclosed, closing Wednesday at $68.31.

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